How long can you carry a fetus that is not alive?

Question

Twice I have been pregnant and when I went in for an ultrasound (still in my 1st trimester) I was carrying a baby with no heartbeat. Since I'm pregnant again, I was just wondering how long is the longest amount of time before your body recognizes the baby is dead? And will it make you start to feel sick or any other symptoms if it goes for a long time?

Answer 1

You could actually get a systemic blood infection if your baby dies in utero. This also happened to me three times each time I had to have the baby removed via D&C, which is probably what they'll do to you if your body doesn't miscarry the baby on it's own. If there's ever a feeling that something's wrong, get to the doctor immediately or go to the nearest ER-a mother's intuition is never anything to scoff at. If you want a sonogram at every visit, you may have to pay for it out of pocket (if you have insurance), but peace of mind when it comes to your baby has no price. If your doctor refuses or is belligerent in any way, find a doctor that will care for you and your baby properly.
The only thing that you can do is take care of yourself and let God take care of your baby.
Congratulations and best wishes!

Answer 2

I am so sorry for your loss. I hope and pray for this child to be healthy.

I know I have read of women going their entire lives with a calcified fetus inside them. Living normal lives. This was always in places without access tp modern medical care, however.

I personally had a 5 week fetus removed at 10 weeks, and my body seemed to think I was pregnant-I had every symptom. I demanded an extra ultrasound because I was so sure they were wrong. I have often wondered how long nature would have let it go....

Good luck.

Answer 3

Hi -
sorry for your previous losses. When I had my m/c, I just woke up bleeding one morning when I was 11 weeks along. No other pain or symptoms. The baby had not made it past 7 weeks and I had no idea. My next pregnancy, I had an u/s at 8 weeks so I di not have to go through that again and there was a heartbeat (23 weeks along now). Once you see the heartbeat at that time, your chances of m/c drop dramatically. Good luck.

Answer 4

I am not sure if there are any real changes in response to your baby dying in utero, or how long it takes for the body to realise and expel it.
I did once see on a documentary though, some lady I think in India, carried to like full term, and she started to have contractions, and then all of a sudden they stopped. No idea why she thought this but she thought that the baby would come in its own time and didn't go to the hospital to get checked out. I think it was like 50 years later (who would really leave it that long) she ended up going in to a hospital and gettin checked out because of pains or something, and it turned out that the baby had calcified inside of her, and gotten in around her organs and stuff and was just rock hard. So they had to like try and cut it out of her.
Weird, but anyway...I guess this means that babies can stay inside of you for a long time...not with very good consequences though. But in our society I would think we would be worried about our babies, and have enough common sense to go to the ER.
I am sorry for your losses and hope that your third time is a charm and you get a beautiful baby out of it.
Good Luck

Answer 5

I have had 2 miscarriages. The first pregnancy I had a blighte ovum and opted for a d & c. The 2nd time round I went in for an ultrasound at 10 weeks and was told that the baby was 8 weeks in size and that it had died a couple of weeks ago. I opted for the d & c a couple of days later.

Answer 6

You can develop an infection after a little while if your baby dies in utero, but sometimes the foetus can become mummified and stay there for a very long time. I once read about a woman in her fifties who had conceived about 15 years earlier but the foetus had died and become mummified...she finally gave birth to it when she was fifty five.

Answer 7

Wow, nobody is really answering your question.

Did you ask for advice on how not to lose a baby?

Or how to make sure your doctor checks you out?

I tried to look it up but I couldn't find anything, sorry. I'm sure there is some reaction to the baby if it dies when previously alive. I would think that if it were never alive to begin with it could stay in the womb longer.

I saw on on the show NipTuck where an older woman had gotten pregnant 15yrs prior and her baby died in utero then calcified... who knows if this could really happen or that story that other person mentioned about the baby becoming mummified (which isn't possible).

Answer 8

If its before you are 20 weeks pregnant than its a miscarriage and it could be very dangerous if left inside of you. You really should keep a close check on that, and maybe speak to a doctor about what possibly could be wrong - why you keep having this happen? There are a lot of resources online to look up miscarriage and stillbirth.

Answer 9

First let me express my condolences on your loss.
I have known Dr.'s to allow some mothers to deliver stillborns due to emotional issues, but this is rare. Get checked as often as you feel necessary. Due to your history I can't see your OBYN objecting. No, your body will not reject a stillborn and make you sick, so stay on top of it, don't lift heavy things, and look after yourself. Goodluck and Godbless.

Answer 10

Not very. Dead cells in the body give off toxins that alert the Bodys Immune System- that the "invaders" HAVE TO GO. A Dead fetus- would trigger this alert pretty quickly- and a miscarriage would occur, probably within a couple of days...